New group to probe the impact of Hinkley C
FORMER Environment Minister Jane Davidson has been appointed to chair a group set up by First Minister Mark Drakeford to consider the impact on Wales of the new Hinkley Point nuclear power station in Somerset.
Ms Davidson’s appointment comes in the wake of huge public concern about the dumping of large quantities of mud from previous nuclear power stations on the site in the Severn Estuary near Cardiff.
She was the Labour AM for Pontypridd from the outset of the National Assembly in 1999 until 2011.
Some scientists have suggested the mud may contain radioactive elements that could pose a threat to human health, although the Welsh Government, Natural Resources Wales, who licensed the dumping, and EDF, the company developing the new power station, have emphatically denied any such risk.
Mr Drakeford has issued a written statement which says: “In February, I announced plans to set up an expert panel to review the implications for Wales of the development of the new Hinkley Point C power plant.
“The Hinkley Point C stakeholder reference group will be chaired by Jane Davidson, the vice chancellor emeritus of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, and will provide an independent view on a wide range of matters arising from the Hinkley development to support Ministers in safeguarding all aspects of wellbeing in Wales.
“Membership of the group includes: Professor Roger Falconer, emeritus professor, School of Engineering Cardiff University; Dr Rhoda Ballinger, reader, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Cardiff University; Dr Justin Gwynn, chair of the OSPAR Committee on Radioactive Substances [OSPAR is an international body comprising 15 governments and the EU which protects and conserves the north east Atlantic and its resources]; Dr Huw Brunt, Public Health Wales; Rachel Sharp, chief executive of Wildlife Trusts Wales; and Dr James Robinson, Director of Conservation, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.
“The group will provide expertise and knowledge in a number of areas including environment and ecology with expertise in a Severn Estuary context; hydro and civil engineering and water environmental assessments in a Severn Estuary context and economy and socioeconomics in a South East Wales/South West England context. It will also provide expertise in public health, nuclear and large-scale energy production and regulatory sectors and processes.
“The group will be expected to routinely draw on expertise where relevant to the matters under consideration.
“It will meet to undertake its first work session on July 20.”
Max Wallis, a leading campaigner against the dumping, said that while he welcomed the appointment of Ms Davidson as chair, it was important to point out that Mr Drakeford’s announcement differed from his original commitment to “establish an independent expert committee to provide advice on all matters which pertain to the proposed development at Hinkley Point”.
He said: “They now call it both a ‘panel of experts’ and a ‘stakeholder reference group’ when it’s neither.
“They’ve widened it to consider the ‘implications for Wales of Hinkley Point C’ rather than the proposed sediment dredging, so let’s not complain of that.”